Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is currently quarantining after coming into contact with a positive coronavirus case, State Department officials confirmed Wednesday.
Pompeo tested negative Wednesday morning but is quarantining “in accordance with [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines,” a State Department spokesman said in a statement. (RELATED: Coronavirus Exposure Rocks Trump’s New Leadership Team At DOD)
“For reasons of privacy we can’t identify that individual,” the spokesman continued. “He is being closely monitored by the Department’s medical team.”
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 08: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak withreporters following a meeting of the coronavirus task force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 08, 2020 in Washington, DC. . (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Pompeo was slated to attend a Cabinet meeting at the White House according to President Donald Trump’s public schedule.
He is the latest Cabinet member to be forced into quarantine following close contact with a coronavirus case. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and several other senior Defense officials went through the CDC protocol after Lithuania’s Defense Minister Raimundas Karabolis tested positive days after meeting with the team at the Pentagon in November.
“We have and are continuing to conduct further contact tracing of DoD personnel who have had close contact with the Lithuanian delegation or Mr. Tata, and are taking appropriate precautions in accordance with CDC guidelines,” a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement at the time. “Additionally, DoD personnel who had contact with the delegation have received or are receiving at this time rapid COVID tests as deemed necessary based on CDC protocols. Additional necessary testing for individuals who had contact with Mr. Tata is ongoing.”
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien himself tested positive for coronavirus over the summer and was forced to work in isolation for two weeks.